HomeMy WebLinkAboutCM Community Homeless Fund
____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
File No: 9-2-67
Council Meeting: 3/19/2018
Disposition: Resolution 14484
Agenda Item No: 8.d
Meeting Date: March 19, 2018
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: City Manager’s Office
Prepared by: Andrew Hening,
Director of Homeless
Planning & Outreach
City Manager Approval: ______________
TOPIC: COMMUNITY HOMELESS FUND
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A THREE-YEAR ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION OF $36,091 TO THE
MARIN COUNTY COUNCIL OF MAYORS & COUNCILMEMBERS “COMMUNITY HOMELESS FUND”
RECOMMENDATION: ADOPT RESOLUTION
BACKGROUND: According to the 2017 Marin County Homeless Point-in-Time Count, over 70% of the people
experiencing homelessness in Marin County reside outside of San Rafael (see Exhibit 1). As a truly regional
challenge, it is imperative that cities and towns throughout Marin County work together to increase the financial
and operational capacity to address homelessness in our community.
In 2014, the Marin County Council of Mayors & Councilmembers (MCCMC) created a dedicated subcommittee
to discuss regional approaches to homelessness. Concurrent to the creation of this subcommittee, the Marin
Organizing Committee (MOC) began meeting with local cities and towns to discuss the need for expanding the
Rotating Emergency Shelter Team (REST) program for an additional two months every year. REST is a rotating
winter shelter program operated by the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin and hosted at faith-based
organizations throughout the county. Prior to Fiscal Year 2014-2015, REST operated for four months every year
during the coldest and wettest months of winter.
In an effort to take regional action, the MCCMC subcommittee recommended the creation of a three-year
“Community Homeless Fund” that would fund the expansion of the REST program for an additional two months
per year. As a regional program serving an immediate need for the ~ 70% of people experiencing homel essness
in Marin who lack shelter, at the Fund’s inception, REST was the top priority for the group.
At the time of the proposal, the annual cost of the REST program (with expanded service) was projected to cost
$360,000 per year. The MCCMC subcommittee felt that if the Community Homeless Fund could contribute half
of that figure ($180,000), then the County of Marin – the primary social service provider in Marin County –
should cover the other half. The committee developed a funding structure whereby $90,000 would be split
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2
evenly across every jurisdiction, and the other $90,000 would be split proportionally based on population size
(see Exhibit 2). With this framework, the overall MCCMC body voted to approve the creation of the Community
Homeless Fund.
Exhibit 1: Regional Homeless Numbers by Jurisdiction (Source: 2017 Homeless Point-in-Time Count)
Exhibit 2: Proposed Funding Breakdown for Community Homeless Fund
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 3
In Year 1 (Fiscal Year 2015-2016), the REST program received the full $180,000 allocation from the Community
Homeless Fund; however, in Year 2 (Fiscal Year 2016-2017) and Year 3 (Fiscal Year 2017-2018), the cost for
providing the expanded REST capacity decreased, and the Community Homeless Fund only needed to provide
$110,000 per year, leaving a $70,000 annual surplus (a $140,000 total surplus at the end of year three).
Over the past two years, multiple independent community groups throughout Marin County started exploring
the feasibility of creating a mobile shower program to provide basic hygiene services for people experiencing
homelessness in historically under-served parts of the community. Thanks to a generous capital grant from the
Marin Community Foundation ($120,000) and the operational leadership of the Downtown Stree ts Team, the
effort gained significant momentum in 2017. To support this new regional program, the MCCMC homeless
subcommittee reconvened and voted to allocate the remaining balance of the Community Homeless Fund to the
first year of operational costs for the mobile showers ($140,000). The larger MCCMC body met at the end of
2017 and voted to approve the homeless subcommittee’s recommendation.
Discussions about the mobile shower effort have yet again galvanized the need for a regional approach to
service provision in Marin, especially as concurrent efforts like Coordinated Entry have launched (Coordinated
Entry is a new County-led effort to both right-size housing interventions and also prioritize high-needs people for
permanent supportive housing). The mobile showers provide an additional outreach platform to get this
vulnerable population into the broader system of care.
Of note, after 10 years of hosting the REST program, local faith-based organizations have announced that this
current REST season (2017-2018) will be the last. Regional efforts are now shifting to prioritizing permanent
housing.
ANALYSIS: Given the positive impact of the first three years of the Community Homeless Fund, the MCCMC
homeless subcommittee reconvened in January of 2018 to discuss the possibility of extending the Community
Homeless Fund (Fund) with an additional three years of financial contributions from all of the cities and towns in
Marin. The MCCMC homeless subcommittee has asked each jurisdiction, before the end of March, to bring this
item to their City Council to discuss whether or not there is willingness to continue the Community Homeless
Fund for an additional three years. The MCCMC homeless subcommittee will reconvene at the end of March,
and depending on the direction from each City Council, the subcommittee will make a recommendation to the
overall MCCMC body on whether or not there is support to continue (and thus administer) the fund.
The Fund is one of the few opportunities for cities and towns across Marin to show that homelessness is a
shared regional challenge. Community members in San Rafael routinely ask that the City make sure
homelessness is addressed in an equitable way across the county, and the Community Homeless Fund is an
excellent way for every city and town to demonstrate buy-in. By supporting both the expanded REST program
and the mobile shower program during the first three-year funding cycle, the MCCMC homeless subcommittee
has now established a track record of supporting regional solutions. The Fund is not simply adding capacity to
existing services in San Rafael; it is creating capacity county-wide. The homeless subcommittee has yet to
decide how the continued funding will be allocated, but there has been discussion about supporting the Marin
Mobile Care mobile shower program.
The City of San Rafael coordinates the Fund by collecting from each participating city and town and depositing
the funds with the Marin Community Foundation (MCF). MCF holds the money in the fund, and the homeless
subcommittee makes recommendations on how it will be spent, which the larger MCCMC body ultimately
approves or denies.
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 4
FISCAL IMPACT: The annual cost of contributing to the Community Homeless Fund is $36,091. The three-year
total cost is $108,273. If approved, the annual cost will be appropriated each year in the City’s homeless
program within the General Fund.
OPTIONS: The City Council has the following options to consider on this matter:
1) Adopt the Resolution
2) Request changes to the Resolution
3) Reject the Resolution
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt the Resolution
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution
RESOLUTION NO. 14484
RESOLUTION OF THE SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL
AUTHORIZING A THREE-YEAR ANNUAL
CONTRIBUTION OF $36,091 TO THE MARIN
COUNTY COUNCIL OF MAYORS & COUNCIL-
MEMBERS “COMMUNITY HOMELESS FUND”
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael, a California charter city (“CITY”), seeks to
provide support services to low-income persons and people experiencing homelessness
in Marin County; and
WHEREAS, CITY seeks to build partnerships with all of the cities and towns in
Marin County in an effort to implement a regional response to homelessness; and
WHEREAS, in 2015 the Marin County Council of Mayors & Councilmembers
(“MCCMC”) created a Community Homeless Fund (“Fund”) to support regional solutions
to homelessness such as the REST Program and the mobile shower program, and each
city and town in Marin County contributed to the Fund at that time; and
WHEREAS, because of the positive impact of the first three years of the
Community Homeless Fund, the MCCMC homeless subcommittee reconvened in
January of 2018 to discuss the possibility of extending the Fund with an additional three
years of financial contributions from all of the cities and towns in Marin; and
WHEREAS, it is anticipated that all other cities and towns in Marin County will
approve additional contributions to the Fund over the next three years;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of San
Rafael hereby authorizes the City Manager, on behalf of the City of San Rafael, to participate
with the other Marin County cities and towns in the continuation of the Community Homeless
Fund, with a payment to the Fund of $36,091 per year for three years.
I, LINDSAY LARA, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing
resolution was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the City
Council of the City of San Rafael, held on Monday the 19th day of March, 2018, by the
following vote, to wit:
AYES: Councilmembers: Bushey, Colin, Gamblin, McCullough & Mayor Phillips
NOES: Councilmembers: None
ABSENT: Councilmembers: None
________________________________
LINDSAY LARA, City Clerk
STAFF REPORT APPROVAL
ROUTING SLIP
Staff Report Author: Andrew Hening Date of Meeting: 03/19/2018
Department: City Manager
Topic: Community Homeless Fund
Subject: RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A THREE-YEAR ANNAUL CONTRIBUTION OF $36,091 TO THE MARIN
COUNTY COUNCIL OF MAYORS & COUNCILMEMBERS “COMMUNITY HOMELESS FUND”
Type: (check all that apply) ☐ Consent Calendar ☐ Public Hearing
☒ Discussion Item ☒ Resolution ☐ Ordinance
☐ Professional Services Agreement ☐ Informational Report
*If PSA, City Attorney approval is required prior to start of staff report approval process
Was agenda item publicly noticed? ☐ Yes ☐No Date noticed: ☐Mailed ☐Site posted ☐Marin IJ
Due Date Responsibility Description Completed
Date Initial / Comment
DEPARTMENT REVIEW
FRIDAY noon
Director Director approves staff
report is ready for ACM,
City Attorney & Finance
review.
3/5/2018
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AH
CONTENT REVIEW
MONDAY
morning
Assistant City Manager
City Attorney
Finance
ACM, City Attorney &
Finance will review items,
make edits using track
changes and ask questions
using comments. Items will
be returned to the author
by end of day Wednesday.
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3/6/2018
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DEPARTMENT REVISIONS
WEDNESDAY
noon
Author Author revises the report
based on comments
receives and produces a
final version (all track
changes and comments
removed) by Friday at
noon.
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ACM, CITY ATTORNEY, FINANCE FINAL APPROVAL
MONDAY
morning
Assistant City Manager
City Attorney
ACM, City Attorney &
Finance will check to see
their comments were
adequately addressed and
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Finance
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TUES
noon
City Manager Final review and approval Click here to
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